Five years toward gender equality : reflections on the work of the Committee for Gender Equality of Massachusetts, 1989-1994 PDF
Preview Five years toward gender equality : reflections on the work of the Committee for Gender Equality of Massachusetts, 1989-1994
* UMASS/AMHERST it I III 111 ill III Five Years Toward Gender Equality: Reflections on the Work of The Committee for Gender Equality of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court 1989 1994 - (Committee for G ender 1IW Equality Digitized by the Internet Archive 2014 in https://archive.org/details/fiveyearstowardgOOabra Five Years Toward Gender Equality: Reflections on the Work of The Committee for Gender Equality of Massachusetts 1989 - 1994 Chair: The Honorable Ruth Abrams I. Members, former and current: Honorable Elizabeth A. Porada, Appeals Court Honorable Charles M. Grabau, Superior Court Department Honorable Katherine Liacos Izzo, Superior Court Department Honorable Constance M. Sweeney, Superior Court Department Honorable Mary McCauley Manzi, Probate and Family Court Department Late Honorable Ernest Rotenberg, Probate and Family Court Department I. Honorable David G. Sacks, Probate and Family Court Department Honorable Sally A. Kelly, Boston Municipal Court Department Honorable Bonnie MacLeod-Griffin, District Court Department Honorable Santo J. Ruma, District Court Department Kay H. Hodge, Esq., Massachusetts Bar Association Karen J. Kepler, Esq., Women's Bar Association Brenda Kronberg, Esq., Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys Margaret H. Marshall, Esq., Boston Bar Association Barbara M. Senecal, Esq., Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers Evelynne Swagerty, Esq., Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys Lynne Gavin Reed, Esq., Executive Director, Administrative Office of the Trial Court Maria Z. Mossaides, Esq., Administrative Assistant to the Justices, Supreme Judicial Court Staff: Lois H. Frankel, Executive Director Gladys E. Maged, Senior Associate Patricia Teixeira, Administrative Secretary Supreme Judicial Court BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS 02108 . TO: Chief Justice Paul J. Liacos Justice Herbert P. Wilkins Justice Joseph R. Nolan Justice Neil L. Lynch Justice Francis P. O'Connor Justice John M. Greaney Chief Justice for Administration and Management of the Trial Court John E. Fenton, Jr. FROM:/ ^Justice Ruth Abrams ' I. DATE: 29 March 1994 In 1986, John Greaney and were appointed to co-chair the Gender Bias I Study Committee. For three years, John and I, as well as many of you in the audience, worked diligently in documenting gender bias in the courts. In 1989, the Gender Bias Study Report was published and concluded that there was gender bias in the courts. The report made recommendations for implementing changes in the court system to eradicate gender bias. Laterthat year, the Supreme Judicial Court established the Committee for Gender Equality to make sure that the report of that committee would not just lie on a shelf gathering dust. As a first effort, we published the first Court Conduct Handbook, which was and continues to be distributed nationally. Chief Justice Liacos and the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court have been very supportive of the Committee and its goal of implementation of gender equality. Chief Justice for Administration and Management of the Trial Court John E. Fenton, Jr. and his staff were solidly behind us and are now working to institutionalize gender equality in the court system. The Committee for Gender Equality has been a national model for implementation of gender equality in the courts. Our success is not solely due to our hard work. We had widespread support from many sources. We were fortunate that our honoree Senator Patricia McGovem supported us throughout her tenure as a State Senator and Chairperson of the Senate Ways and Means. Other members of the Legislature also were supportive. Our work on domestic violence was noticed by the Legislature, the Governor, and his prior Legal Counsel Robert J. Cordy, all of whom have assisted us in our efforts. We could not have achieved as much as we did without the active support of the Women's Bar Association, the Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers, the Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys, the Massachusetts Bar Association, and the Boston Bar Association. All of these organizations helped us as we worked towards the elimination of gender bias in the courts. We, of course, could do nothing in the court system without the active support of judges, court officers, probation officers, support staff, other court employees, and many volunteers. Battered women's advocates and other volunteers also are helping us to implement the Gender Bias Study recommenda- tions. All of them worked with us diligently and helped us with our many educational goals. No mention of education would be complete without thanking Robert Brink of the Flaschner Judicial Institute and Robert dayman of the Trial Court's Judicial Institute, and their staffs who have worked with us toward our educational goals. cannot conclude without commending Gladys Maged, our first director, I Lois Frankel, our second director, and Patricia Teixeira, administrative secretary. Without their dedication and unstinting devotion to our goals and their hours of unpaid time, the Committee's work would not have achieved statewide and national recognition. As a result of all your work, we, in the court system, can now look forward to a future in which the public's expectation of fairness in the courts will become a reality for everyone, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. I RIA:jeh 48 Table of Contents Page Five Years Toward Gender Equality 1 Members Reflect on the Committee for Gender Equality 3 A Tribute to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Committee for Gender Equality 6 Lynn Hecht Schafran, Esq. Towards a Future of Gender Equality 8 Gladys Maged Reflections on Progress 10 Lois Frankel Creating an Even Playing Field 12 The Honorable Mary Beatty Muse Thoughts About the Committee for Gender Equality 1 The Honorable Margot Botsford Second Sight: Dreaming the Future 16 Cynthia Bauman, Esq. Thoughts on Gender Equality Work 1 Attorney Chris Butler Eliminating Sexual Harassment: A Retrospective Look at Working with the 20 Committee for Gender Equality Paul Edgar, Esq. The Interaction of Law and Life: The Massachusetts Gender Bias Study Committee 22 and the Committee for Gender Equality Renee M. Landers, Esq. The Good Spirited Work of the Committee for Gender Equality 24 Maria C. Moynihan, Esq. Sharing our Voices: Support Staff in the Court System 26 Susan A. Shea
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